Snippet #2625542

Despite his ability to fly or slither, running continued to be the fastest way through the forest for him. It certainly might not be for anyone else - anyone who didn't know the realm as well or wasn't accustomed to the vegetation. The Beast knew every tree and vine, every patch of sinking sand, mud, or slippery moss.

He knew when there was an intruder in his realm, too. Word spread quickly when it wasn't literal word at all, but the cries of birds that called across the canopy, the avian equivalent of gossip. There was someone in the swamp. Someone from the World, someone who had been here before, but it was not Rina… and, thus, was not welcome here.

By the time the Beast reached the swamp, however, whoever it had been was gone. The smell of blood had begun to permeate the odors of water and mud, though, so he followed it to the scene. The intruder had slain something. Basil bent his head by the body, sniffing despite that his skull-like visage had no visible, or at least no fleshy, nose. He was in his most monstrous shape - the nightmarish creature built from fury and obsession.

The scent was difficult to make out of the water. Blood was one thing, but most all other scents were easily lost in the swamp between its water and its stench of decay. Still, the birds had told him it was someone from the World. Just not Rina. A low hiss crept from the Beast's toothy maw before breaking into a short, canine snarl of frustration. Another hiss, before he shut his mouth to sniff at the serpentine body again. Amphibian was not the most tasty of meats, but the race here had roused his hunger. He snatched up the sleek carcass of the creature in his jaws, settling on the soft, wet earth to start on his meal right there.